SaddlebackCollege

Program Review
for
Office of Instruction

Submitted on

April 1, 2008

Table of Contents

Team Members and Approval Page...... x

Program Review Checklist...... x

Unit Overview...... x

Review Report...... x

Needs Assessment...... x

Appendices...... x

Program Review Team Members and Approvals

Program Review Team Chair:

Rajen Vurdien

Program Review Team Members:

Linda Bashor

Britnee Holmes

Sheri Nelson

Kathleen Schlick

Program Review Checklist

Date Completed / Action
Contact Program Review Chair for orientation
Feb 25, 2008 / Form Program Review Team
Mar 14, 2008 / Gather documents (Org Chart/Staffing Profile/AUO Assessment Forms)
Mar 14, 2008 / Solicit input from faculty and students
Determine if additional research is needed
N/A / Contact College Research Analyst if necessary
Mar 20, 2008 / Write Program Review report
Submit report to Dean or VP and Program Review Chair for approval
Report submitted to Academic or Classified Senate for approval
Report submitted to Office of Instruction or Student Services for approval
Report submitted to College President and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Report posted to the IE web site
Presentation to the Planning and Budget Committee

Section I: Unit Overview

  1. The Mission of the Unit and its Link to the College’s Mission and Goals

Our College Mission: To provide access to learning opportunities that promote student success; to foster intellectual growth, individual expression and character development; and to support a dynamic and diverse environment of innovation and collegiality.

Institutional Mission/Goal Reference / Administrative Outcomes / Means of Assessment and Criteria for Success / Summary of Data Collected / Use of Results
College goals:
The Office of Instruction closely supports the major college goals to provide (i) a comprehensive, broad range of high quality courses and programs to enable students to pursue their career goals and (ii) access for the community to the educational, cultural, and recreational resources of the College
Unit Mission Statement
…to support, facilitate, and monitor the delivery of instruction college-wide and to the community while maintaining a tradition of excellence / 1. To ensure that instructors follow curriculum guidelines in the submission of courses for approval.
2. To provide guidelines to instructors and students on how to offer and complete distance education courses successfully with maximum retention.
3. To monitor and help prepare the schedule in an efficient and effective manner. / 1. State auditing of our courses will drop by 5% annually starting with the 2006-07 academic year.
2. There will be fewer help questions about distance education. A baseline will be established during the Spring 2006 semester. Help questions will drop by 5 % annually.
3. There will be fewer room conflicts and schedule overlapping. Tracking of conflicts will start with the preparation of the Fall 2006 schedule. The number of conflicts will drop by 5% annually.
  1. Historical Background and Unique Characteristics of the Unit

The Office of Instruction oversees all academic affairs, includingCommunity Education, the Innovation andTechnologyCenter, Audio Visual Department, Research Department, the Grants Department, and the Duplicating Department. This review will address Distance Education, Curriculum, Faculty Development and the office of the Executive Assistant, which are an integral part of the Office of Instruction. The other areas listed are independent and will complete their own program review.

  1. Progress Since the Last Program Review
    This is the first program review for the Office of Instruction.
  1. Current Strengths, Opportunities, and Challenges

Opportunities
Distance Education has added one new technician for training instructors and helping with Blackboard portal problems. Continued in-service and by-appointment training keeps instructors up-to-date on changes and innovations to the Blackboard portal. As more instructors begin to add online instruction to their on-campus classes as a complement to their lectures, as well as full online courses, it is imperative that all faculty have the opportunity for in-depth training in the use of Blackboard.

Challenges
Reducing the number of help questions regarding distance education continues to be a challenge in spite of additional support offered. Print and Online “Frequently Asked Questions and Answers,” and step-by-step instructions for accessing online courses in various modalities (videos, written and online, in several places to make it easier for students to find) have been redesigned and refined. However, high school students do not seem to be aware of how to do research to find answers. Therefore, the number of Fall help questions is higher than Spring (greater number of students new to college in the Fall). We have found that there are fewer repeat calls once we have directed the students to the updated, current instructions and troubleshooting document now online.

Strengths
The Office of Instruction prides itself in the way it quickly responds to questions and provides solutions to problems. Also, the Office of Instruction continually accommodates faculty and staff at the last minute with regards to curriculum changes and reports.

Section II: Review Report

  1. Staffing and Organizational Structure

  1. Programs and Services

Executive Assistant to Vice President

The Executive Assistant to the VP of Instruction is primarily responsible for the development of the spring, summer and fall schedules. She also processes all adding and cancelling of classes as requested by the division assistants. She assists the divisions in finding classrooms for faculty, reviewing faculty load summaries, and reviewing classes for correct WSCH. As Executive Assistant to the VP of Instruction, she handles any projects assigned her by the VP, assists students with adding classes and answers questions posed by students, faculty and the public.

Curriculum Office

Under general supervision from the Vice President of Instruction, the Curriculum Specialist plans, develops, coordinates, edits and produces a comprehensive community college catalog according to legal guidelines and established timelines. She also assures that new and revised curriculum is documented and approved by the District and the state. In addition to working extensively with faculty and staff, this position has extensive contact with the State Chancellor’s Office in assuring compliance for program and course approval.

Faculty Development

1.Faculty Flex Credit

The Office of Instruction keeps detailed records of Faculty Flex credit for over 200 full-time faculty members. Each faculty member is asked to complete 38 hours of flex credit each year for nine days of instruction that they receive off. They can fulfill this credit by attending In-Service week, which is held at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters. They can also fulfill this credit by approved professional development activities.

The main intent of the Flexible Calendar Program is to replace instructional days with professional development activities that enhance institutional programs and services and further student learning.

2.Faculty Development Funding

The Office of Instruction funds conferences for professional development for faculty. This is a great benefit to faculty, allowing them to be reimbursed for all or a portion of their expenses for a conference they attend. This service has allowed faculty to attended conferences that they may have otherwise been unable to attend.

This year alone 37 associate faculty members and 58 full-time faculty members have been funded for conferences held within the United States.

Distance Education

The Distance Education Office oversees the scheduling of courses taught via distance education (Internet/Video/Audio); schedules rooms for on-campus orientations, meetings, and exams, as needed; tracks grades, completion and attrition; keeps statistics and responds to survey requests; assists students and faculty with technical problems; creates and maintains websites; and answers questions from the general public regarding distance education.

  1. Student/Constituency Satisfaction

A small sampling was done among 46 staff members in other divisions, requesting whether or not their questions were answered or problems were resolved. Of the 46, 34 responded with 31 “yes” answers, one “no” and two “N/A.”

  1. Facilities, Technical Infrastructure, and Resources

The college has approved the future hiring of a Distance Education Director/Coordinator to oversee the challenges of this growing program. It is planned that the DE staff will move into the newly renovated BGS building in late summer/early fall to create a greater presence on campus and easier access for students with questions or needing assistance. This will also allow the staff to work more closely together to coordinate various aspects of the program. Currently the DE staff are in separate buildings.

  1. Outreach and Collaboration

Outreach is not part of the usual responsibility of the Office of Instruction.

The office collaborates with all areas that seek help and support.

Section III: Needs Assessment

  1. Human Resource Needs

Distance Education will require an additional technology application specialist as the program grows. A Distance Education director/coordinator has been approved for possible hire in the future.
Curriculum is currently in the process of advertising for a part-time administrative assistant to help in the area of both curriculum and the catalog.
All other areas within the Office of Instruction do not require additional staff at this time.

  1. Instructional/Service Needs

N/A

  1. Research Needs

Should the Office of Instruction require assistance with research, they would work with the Research Department.

  1. Technical, Equipment and Other Resource Needs

Curriculum office would benefit from SPSS software, which could be provided by the Research Department.

  1. Facilities Needs

The Distance Education office requires a larger area to house the DE staff, classroom and equipment. The center is scheduled to be available by late summer/early fall 2008.

It would be nice for the Curriculum office to have a larger space to work in, as the current one-person office houses two persons and is often used for meetings with other staff and faculty.

Also, it would make a difference if all Office of Instruction employees were housed in the same area, rather than being scattered throughout the Administration and Governance building.

  1. Marketing and Outreach Needs

N/A

  1. Retention Needs

N/A

Section IV: Appendices

A.Unit Organizational Chart
B.Five-Year Program Staffing Profile
C.AUO Assessment Forms
  1. Supporting Data
  1. Others

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